Sasanian Kingdom. Shapur I. 240-272 AD. Gold Dinar (7.42g, 21mm). Mint I (‘Ktesiphon’). Göbl type I/1

Description

Sasanian Kingdom. Shapur I. 240-272 AD. Gold Dinar (7.42g, 21mm). Mint I (‘Ktesiphon’). Obv.: diademed and draped bust of Shapur I to right, wearing mural crown with a great korymbos on top and long earflaps; long beard tied in the middle and thick tufts of curly hair at the back; two ribbons rising from behind head; one pellet above the ribbons and two below; around, ‘mzdysn bgy šhpwhry MRKAn MRKA ʾyrʾn MNW ctry MN yzdʾn’ = ‘mazdēsn bay Šābuhr šāhān šāh Ērān kē čihr az yaz(a)dān’ (‘The Mazda-worshipping Lord Shapur, King of Kings of the Iranians, whose essence is from the gods’ in Pahlavi). Rev.: Zoroastrian fire altar flanked by two attendants wearing mural crowns and holding scepters; to right and left, ‘NWRA ZY – šhpwhry’ = ‘ādur ī Šābuhr’ (‘Fire of Shapur’ in Pahlavi); in upper left field, the symbol of ‘frawahr’, the guardian spirit of kingship and the emblem of the royal treasury. Göbl type I/1; SNS I, type IIc/1b, style P;  Leu Web Auc. 36, lot 607 (same dies). Virtually as struck.